Black Dog Superstitions

The Black Dog is a creature that has consistently – for centuries – shown up time and time again in the legends and folklore of Europe; it often appears as an apparition or ghost and signifies that Death is nearby.

How To Identify a Black Dog

The Black Dog of folklore is easily identifiable, and anyone that crosses its path will know it in an instant. While it’s not too very different from normal dogs, there are some key characteristics that are unmistakable. The first, is its size – it is said that the Black Dog is a gigantic animal – larger than any normal dog would ever be. The second way to identify the dog is by when it makes its appearance – Black Dogs will often appear during the nighttime, and though it’s described as having a coat that as thick and lush, it is said that the moonlight does not reflect off of it at all. The third and perhaps easiest way to identify the black dog is through its eyes – in almost all stories, the eyes of the Black Dog glow a fire-red color. It’s also said that Black Dogs simply vanish, fade away, or disappear when they leave, like an apparition.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve left out one key characteristic that you might think that you could use to identify the dog – it’s color. While most “black” dogs are reported as black, other colors have been reported as well, including brown, grey, yellow, and white – so color is not necessarily an instant identifier.

Where to find a Black Dog

What’s interesting is that while black dogs have been reported in many different countries (Italy, Canada, the United States), most of them have been reported in Great Britain. Also each individual creature seems to have its own territory and will appear time and time again on that particular ground. In other words, the individual black dogs have specific “homes” that they have inhabited for generations, including areas around water, bridges, wells, and crossroads (to name only a few). One theory to this is that Black Dogs patrol Ley Lines. Ley lines are alignments of ancient or holy areas such as monuments, churches, or cairns and are considered to have special spiritual energy or power.

What do Black Dogs do?

What black dogs do and what they mean is up for debate. The most widely accepted theory is that the black dog is an omen of death. There are however occasional legends that cite that the black dog acted as a protector or guardian to lost travelers and children.

Did you know?

Many people have a subconscious fear and superstitious belief in the black dog – so much so that animal groups describe any black dog as one of the hardest of the dogs to adopt – very similar to how black cats are considered especially hard to adopt due to superstitions about the history and meaning of black cats.

and this is why i learned from cats and demons… cause i don’t like dogs… cats are cute they say its yummy but no… i prefer rabbits.. i like to see their nose wiggle like rats though >.< if you wanna eat a cat… beware about getting fur balls XD

hey there! checked out your wtbeise and am very interested in your assistance. We have a year old lab X greyhound (so we found out afterwards!) and all in all he is an amazing dog, we got him at 8 weeks and he has been around our daughter who had just turned 3 and is amazing with her she lays on him..pushes him is kind of in an agressive stage right now and we try really hard to stress to her NOT to be like that lol but anyways he has never growled, snapped, bit or snarled at her..or anyone for that matter.. he is a very loving and affectionate, licky/kissy dog.however, we have a baby on the way, and my husband was just called into the military and will be going away for quite a while. Bentley(dog) seems to listen to my husband more than me they are BFFS. And Bentley has and always has had an issue with jumping up, and pawing at people lol not aggressively but its still super frustrating, and we are concerned with the baby on the way and such and just want to get him under control while hes still young.Let me know what you think and We’d love to meet!